Richard Perle Quotes from this week [View All]

Is this man incredibly insane or what? And how much influence and pull does he have in Washington?

http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.,pubID.19017/pub_detail.asp

"The war in Iraq has demonstrated the significance of strong, decisive government leadership, bold military tactics coupled with advanced technology, and the possibility of spreading freedom and democracy throughout the Arab world."

(He is a Director of the Jerusalem Post)

"Third, the war has demonstrated a really quite remarkable ability of the United States to operate more or less independently. Of course, we needed some space in Kuwait and elsewhere to amass some forces, but we were extraordinarily independent in this operation. When Turkey refused to allow access for a northern front, we adapted quickly. And without the availability of that real estate, we were nevertheless able to reshape and execute a very complex war plan.

This independence meant that we could say to our allies: You can opt in or you can opt out. This is a coalition of the willing. You do not have to participate if you do not want to. (Some of our allies, like the Germans, decided not to participate even before they were asked to do so.) The ability to operate more or less independently, working only with those who are willing to join us, is of enormous political importance for the future."

"Lesson eight is not such a happy lesson: our allies are woefully inadequate by comparison with the United States, and there is no sign that it is getting better. Indeed, in many ways, it is getting worse. This has important political implications, because as we contemplate the use of force in the protection of our own interests and the interests of others, our friends and allies, it is not clear they can fight alongside us. What we saw in Europe in the form of opposition to this war reflects, at least in part, the inability of Europeans to participate in a way that accords their own soldiers and citizens the relative safety that we have earned by virtue of the way we fight, by out-ranging the enemy, for example."


"And in terms of protecting this country from the terrorist threat we face, and indeed, in liberating people throughout the Arab world, this transformation, if it succeeds in Iraq, will spread. It will spread by inspiring others who are now the victims of oppression, and it will spread by recognizing that the Western world is not unique in its desire for individuals to live in freedom."

Perle's Professional Experience

-Member of the Defense Policy Board
-Chairman and chief executive officer, Hollinger Digital, Inc.
-Director, Jerusalem Post
-Producer, PBS, The Gulf Crisis: The Road to War, 1992
-Assistant secretary of defense for international security policy, 1981-1987
-U.S. Senate staff, 1969-1980